Ahh.. where to begin. Our very first flight was cancelled Monday due to the massive flooding in Houston. We were not only told by Continental Airlines that they could not get us to LA for our international flight on Air Tahiti Nui, they told us it was up to us to reschedule the Air Tahiti flight. I've never experienced such a thing before, and as you would expect, Air Tahiti charged us for changing our tickets, even though it was through no choice of our own.
We chose Air Tahiti because it was cheap. Originally we had a 2 hour stopover in Papeete, French Polynesia (Tahiti).. Everyone said "Ohh Tahiti" and we we're thinking "we'll it's just going to be a couple of hours in an airport like anywhere else." Our rescheduled flights, however, put us in Tahiti for 10 hours this Friday night, June 23, after being up for over 24 hours. Uncomfortable, yes, but I've spent several hours in an airport before, right?
Upon mentioning this to Helen (MsBehaviour), she advised me to bring my insect repellant. At first I thought she was assuming we'd be going out on the beach or something - when I looked up information on the Papeete airport, I came upon some quite colorful descriptions from other travellers who had layovers there. Here's an example:
"Got in around midnight. Tried to find a place to sleep. Just crashed on the floor. Woke up the first time to find a rat nibbling on my toes. Chased it away and put a towel over my feet. Then a few hours later, woke up to something scratching my back. Turned over and saw a crab clawing me."
Ok. Not cool. The airport is open to the outside, no air conditioning except in the terminal (which you only get to sit in for an hour or so before departure). You also have to collect your bags and go through customs, even if you're just going to sit there all night. So in one of the many discussions with Air Tahiti this week trying to get our tickets sorted out, I asked if there was a flight with a shorter layover. I was informed there was not, and that the only other option was a LONGER layover. We decided to take that option and get a hotel, specifically the Sofitel Mauve Beach Resort. 
Looking at some of the pictures, I can see why Tahiti is a popular destination. However, for me, it seems like one of those places where if you're rich, everything is comfortable and clean, and if you're not rich, you sleep with rats (literally). I'm not rich, but have uncharacteristically decided to live as such for these 10-13 hours. Wasteful, but it seems to be the best way to turn this into a positive situation.
So we are now travelling to Baton Rouge tomorrow evening, going to the Airport at 3am for our flight at 5:45am that will take us to Houston, then LA, then LA to Papeete where we will be able to rest, clean up, and maybe even have a few minutes of beach. Then on to Auckland. All in all it will be a 40+ hour journey. As long as we get to the final destination, I'm sure the whole experience will be worth it.
I only wish we could be there for some daylight, but we'll be in Papeete from 6:20pm until 7:15am, and I believe it will be mostly dark until we're about to depart. I'll still try to take some pics..
Maybe the next time I post we'll be in NZ.. we shall see..
feet to gaze with our jaws dropped at the amazing views. This area is spectacular.
than buying 
fresh carrots or apples. Today we bought a loaf of freshly baked sesame seed bread for $1 NZD (or about $0.60 USD). Just down the road are a couple of streets lined with various locally owned specialty shops. The Fruit/Vegetable Store. The Bakery. The Dairy. The Fish Shop. The Meat Shop. The Pet Store. The Bottle Shop (Liquor store) I absolutely love this. I LOVE THIS PLACE!!
